Why The Concept Of Jugaad Is What Makes India A Rich Country

Richer than the big apple and the Queen of England, herself, actually. When you have jugaad, you don’t really need anything else because, you simply don’t. What is Jugaad? Besides the fact that it is a term every Indian is only too familiar with, jugaad is the lazy Indian’s easiest hack to the mystery that is life. It could very well be a cultural aspect of the country and it would be the richest of the lot.

Yes, while I agree that more often than not, the word comes to be associated with an almost negative connotation, simply because one would tend to figure an easy way out—a phrase that means you’re just either too lazy, or you aren’t passionate enough. But, you can’t ignore the fact that Jugaad may be the one thing that is helping every Indian to fulfill their passion; never mind if it is as simple as wanting to change channels while not lifting a finger, literally or as complex as installing a plastic chair in place of the driver’s seat in a car because you may not have enough money to get one of those leather coated cushion-chairs.

It is what the Americans would call redneck technology; only at a more advanced stage. One can’t really help marveling at the concept as a whole. And why not? I’m actually a little surprised that the Americans haven’t already tried to tap in to the monetary aspect of this cultural entity in India because, quite frankly, it is the one really ingenious thing that sets India apart from every other country on the world map in a way that cannot be replicated even if the west were to try a thousand times over.

In a country where sex, politics and religion have always been high stakeholders in terms of selling points, Jugaad is every Indian common man’s smart retort to the ever prevalent Tumse Na Ho Payega! It is the layman’s way of throwing caution to the wind and everything that is falling apart in their lives. It is their way of telling the world, ‘Hit me with your best shot’! Jugaad is the one thing that no industry, businessman or politician can ever make money from because it is the one free hack that the commoner will never be at a loss of, come what may. It is the metaphor for the saying, ‘We shall overcome.’ It makes you the richest and most positive guy around.

Google the term and surf through the links on the pages that unfold before your screen. Within instances, you will be introduced to at least 20 odd Indian innovations for every lazy man. Featured among them will be the long wooden stick used as a universal remote, a pant used to divide the breeze from a cooler between two rooms, a plastic chair used in place of the car driver’s seat and a laptop front camera screen used as a mirror while shaving. There is something for everyone and everything for someone. Jugaad is primarily the lazy man’s smartest innovation. And you can hate it, or love it but you can never ignore it. It’s everywhere you go and everywhere you look. It’s more popular than temples and god men and handier than your mechanical tool kit. And you know why? Because it is born of need, not want. Necessity breeds invention and in the case of India, it is jugaad.

It’s like the beacon of hope that every Indian citizen is dreaming of and living for—rich or poor, happy or sad, old or young. It’s what connects us Indians on a very basic level in a way that no political party, religion or cause ever can. It’s the reason why you can choose to stay where you are, doing what you do, without worrying about things going kaput. It is the one reason why the average Indian household will never have to worry about losing a remote, or an AC getting spoiled, or not even having an AC in the scorching summer. It is the one reason why India and every Indian will always be content with what they have.

That is the magic of Jugaad. It gives you hope on the most hopeless of days and joy in the saddest of situations. It empowers you on a day when you feel powerless and strengthens you when you feel weak. What Jugaad does for the common man is what a business acquisition does for an Ambani; or what Shiv Khera does for every lost cause—it lets you feel like you too can win. That, my dear friends is the power of Jugaad.